When Mélanie Demers was five years old she started ballet classes, although, looking back, she doesn’t understand why. She wanted to be a writer as a kid.
“I don’t remember asking my mom to be in a ballet class,” recalls the dancer-choreographer from her home in Montreal. “My body was not the type of body that would fit the [ballet] aesthetic, so I always felt a bit inadequate.”
That all changed for Demers by the time she was 16 though, when she discovered the more inclusive aspects of contemporary dance, which allowed her to be the person that she was. Her embrace of the form eventually led her to found Montreal’s MAYDAY experimental dance company in 2007, which, according to its website, was created to explore “the powerful link between the poetical and the political”.
Mélanie DemersJULIE ARTACHO
Demers laughs when asked to explain just exactly how her company does that.
“That’s interesting,” she replies. “You know, like when you have a label you have to justify your label. Ummm…I don’t know how I do that. I guess I try to create links between the artistic object that I create and the world. Sometimes dance can be a little bit abstract and outside of any social, historical preoccupations, and then I try to use those links. I try—for me, to my eye—to make it relevant. Like what does this art form have to say about the world?
“Because it’s a totally different thing, having to observe the world and translate it into a dance piece rather than in an essay, you know. So there is an intelligence, there is a logic, there are meanings that we can find in watching bodies move.”
With those ideas in mind, Demers set out on an artistic path that has seen her choreograph over 30 dance works and, last year, be awarded the prestigious Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal. She describes her latest piece, La Goddam Voie Lactée (The Goddamn Milky Way)—which will be performed in Vancouver from February 4 to 6 as part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival—as her response to the harshness of the world.
“I first started to think about this project in the summer of 2020,” she explains, “when there was a high level of tension, social tension, around Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo Movement and stuff like that. So I guess I thought: what can I do, what can I say that has any relevance to these tense times. And instead of getting very close to the human conditions—something that I do often—I just wanted to take a step back and look at the world from a very very far angle. I was thinking about Nina Simone when she was singing ‘Mississippi Goddam’, and my idea was like, ‘It’s not just Mississippi that was goddamm, it’s the whole goddamn Milky Way.’ Like we’re all under the same umbrella, we’re all doomed.”
La Goddam Voie Lactée is performed by Stacey Désilier, Frannie Holder, Chi Long, Léa Noblet Di Ziranaldi, and understudy Misheel Ganbold, who is replacing original dancer Brianna Lombardo for the local run. Demers admits that it was quite a challenge finding the ideal blend of talent for the piece.
“I am usually someone that is very loyal to the people I work with,” she points out, “but I try to make a very distinct selection of who is going to be onstage. Like who do we give light to, who is going to embody my ideals and my ideas. So yes, it’s always a little bit delicate, but I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by amazing women, talented artists, very badass performers, who dance but also sing but also act and who can also play guitar—they’re all very versatile.
Video of La Goddam Voie Lactée (Trailer) | 2022 PuSh Festival
“So it was hard to find them,” she adds, “but also it’s very easy to work with them. And then I like to think that selecting people that you put on stage is really, I don’t know, like a microcosm of your ideal society in a way. So we have dancers that are in their 20s, and 30s, and 40s, and 50s. It’s a very beautiful, diverse cast of people.”
As choreographer and director of La Goddam Voie Lactée, Demers doesn’t appear on stage. But you wonder if, when she sees her creation unfold, her own dance instincts might make her want to join in.
“Oh no,” she says, laughing again, “I’m quite happy now to actually leave the space and the light to other performers. I’m excited by crafting a work more than embodying it. I mean, I still love to perform, and it’s something that I will always do, but I don’t have the urge to replace a dancer. The way that I work is to really craft a role on to their personality, so people are not easily replaceable; it’s actually really hard. You cannot join in and jump in in a work like that, because I use their bodies as my personal archive, so I really go deep and find their specificities and differences and put that in perspective.”
So far in her career Demers has had her dance works shown in some 40 cities across Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia. One of the joys of her profession comes from seeing the different attitudes people have to her work from place to place.
“That’s the beauty of touring a work,” she says, “to actually submit it to another gaze, another culture that will probably analyse it under a different light. You know, there’s a big deal about touring, that it’s really prestigious and glamorous, but for me what is interesting is to actually be in contact with that friction between what I created in a small studio in Montreal and what people can receive from my perspective, and then how they can interpret it. I think that’s where lies the beauty of live art.”
La Goddam Voie Lactéewill be performed at the Scotiabank Dance Centre from February 4 to 6 as part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, copresented by the Dance Centre.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.
Alleged Fraud Scheme
Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.
Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.
Massive Seizure of Artworks
In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.
Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.
Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed
In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.
Court Proceedings Ongoing
The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
Impact on the Local Art Community
The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.
For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.
As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.
While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.
Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.
As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.
